Morning World...

This might be a stupid question (but I'm a stupid person):

Does anyone have any advice on writing 303 sequences? Mine always sound shit.....

Any advice gratefully received.

?

just put a simple beat for your orientation to the background (+16step loop) and begin to build your melody step by step.. or have something in mind and put it into the machine..

Assuming you have certain melodies in your head, but miss the depth and aggressiveness of a 'real' 303-sequence, I would suggest imitating some riffs of artists you like. You will discover that the lines are much more complicated than you first would think.. But that way you can hear how accent and slide is placed to get a nice groovin bassline..

And imo you need a real 303 or Rebirth or Freebee, cause you need the build-in sequencer to get a 'real' 303-sounding bassline..

Yep, this is indeed not easy. I remember when rebirth was hot, and what I did when wanting to use it in my own stuff was to steal from other peoples songs that came with rebirth or could be downloaded from its website, and tweaked them to fit into my own music.
I suggest you do the same, and then eventually learn something from that.

I used Rebirth for ages and all my best stuff from it came when I had an idea in my head first about where I wanted to go.

Well, you´re one of the naturally gifted 303-pattern writers then
Making 303 patterns is in a class of its own, and I know how it takes practice if you´re not born with the TB groove in your heart.
It´s like making guitar patterns sounding realistic.

theres no such thing as tb groove in the heart

be aggresive with your melody.. play it over a 4x4 beat.. then add accent and slide to it from there..

you dont need an exact idea of what you want (with respect to the 'extras'*).. just a good idea of when and where to place them.

for instance.. say you have a 1/32nd note-based psytrance melody.

you could have the melody centering around C-5 but have pitch changes on the c# above and A# below. then put slide on random(in the confines of the flow) 1st and 3rd notes in a 32note, 4/4 pattern. the slide is just to help the flow.. it should sound pretty good without them imo.

that is.. you're most likely not going to make a crappy pattern better by adding the 'extras'.


always try to keep the beat and flow of the song in mind.. on a lot of stuff you want the 303 to be involved in the same conversation with the rest of the instruments instead of straying into a totally different thought... it doesnt have to be the same melody as the rest of the song.. thats not what im saying.. but it has to be on the same page.


Another way of doing this if you're REALLY lost.. is to start a 4/4 pattern with only 4 notes. work the notes into a flow you like.. add an additional 4 notes.. work it into a flow you like (including the other 4) then add 8 more and do the same thing.. voila 16 note pattern just the way you want it.


*'extras' = slide and accent

might be counterproductive.. but this is how I do 303

Initializing Behaviours wrote:

And imo you need a real 303 or Rebirth or Freebee, cause you need the build-in sequencer to get a 'real' 303-sounding bassline..

Yes, I agree

Thats why I am looking forward to FreeBie VSTi so much

PatchArena wrote:

Thats why I am looking forward to FreeBie VSTi so much

yeah i wonder what its going to be named though..

100eurobee just doesnt seem to flow too well to me..

free-oh-free?

pay-oh-pay

Start with some random made pattern and work them out. You'll either get somewhere or not. That's at least the way patterns in milestones like "Acid Tracks", "Land of Confusion" or "My Medusa" have been made.

You either find the groove or not

Ronny

303 sequences aren't that difficult - remember that the onboard sequencer is based around a straight 1/16 or 1/32 pattern, or triplets or a mixture of both.
So you don't even have to worry about strange syncopations - it's all on-the-mark quantized stuff. (of course you can create odd timings if you really want, but alot of 303-created patterns haven't done that because it's a long and laborious process and really not often worth it - and some people have their 303s midi'ed up too, but even so many of the memorable patterns were created with the onboard sequencer)

Alot of it is to do with putting your emphasis notes off the main beat to give the swing. If you use notes on the beat, then a good idea is to have it pitched an octave down so it is a bass note. Think about how people dance - you generally put your feet down on the beat, and rise up off the beat - so your sequence should lead that - bass notes for down...melody notes for up.

Using the slide into or out of these bass notes can give a huge shuffle effect as it effectively slows the note after it. Using the slide also has the effect of getting rid of the attack, so if it's a bass note on the kick, it will emphasise the kick instead of competing with it because the higher pitched attack squelch plays around the start of the kick and interfers with the clarity of the hit.

Using slide - sliding from bass up to a higher note has far more aural impact than sliding down - so use that for effect.

Pauses..... these are great swing builders. Leave a note out on the third or fourth or whichever beat - sometimes not having a note at the start of a bar works well - it leaves loads of open space for the first kick to boom and emphasises the start of every bar or every 2nd or 4th bar. You want people to go down on your opening beat, so what's better than a clear clean explosive kick without any sequence over it?

Use a mix of triplets and straight 16ths - just the odd triplet will be emphasised far more than a whole bar of them - or 2 triplets placed around the off-beat open hat.

And failing all of that - start with your sequence (even if it's a straight 16th pattern) but make your beat work around it, instead of having that 4/4 beat concreted into the front of your head.

And finally - if you use things like Cubase (and I'm sure other hosts can do it too) then try inputting your sequence by step sequencing instead of with the mouse - after all that's how you do it with a 303/202. And don't erase what might sound like a good rhythm but a crap melody - just fiddle around with the notes in the editor but keep the timing - remember that some of the best sequences 303/202 users come up with are often by chance - you just spend an hour or so putting in various notes/ timings until one happens to work - and it might only be when you use the right slide settings, or legato the right notes, or have the right synth settings.

on a side note.. the "freebee" vsti has a new website

http://www.audiorealism.se/

more specs:

Quote:

Authentic Bass Line emulation Internal step sequencer Full Midi CC control with learning function 18dB(classic) or 24dB/Octave selectable filter Analog tuning mode Integrated distortion unit High pass filter (low cut) Rebirth RB-338® pattern import Freebee pattern import/export Two Midi modes (Pattern or Note) Sample accurate sync to VST host

pretty cool that imports not only freebee patterns but also the old rebirth patterns too.

price of ~$100 bucks

My advice is simple, get a fucking life and get over it. The TB 303 is the most god-awful synth I have ever owned.

BONES wrote:

My advice is simple, get a fucking life and get over it. The TB 303 is the most god-awful synth I have ever owned.

Whether you like the sound or not....it IS a classic and loved by many people, and is still being used in many tracks today. www.audiorealism.com will make a lot of people happy with this release

...by the way, there are full specs and a screenshot at www.patcharena.com .

You all know how much I have craved an authentic 303 sound from my PC so for me this is the biggest software release of this year

But did you hear it in action ?
I also expect a lot, but as he had lost Freebee's sources...

Thanks everyone for the advice, really appreciate you guys taking the time to help me out, especially with this gem of advice:

Quote:

My advice is simple, get a fucking life and get over it. The TB 303 is the most god-awful synth I have ever owned.

PatchArena wrote:

You all know how much I have craved an authentic 303 sound from my PC so for me this is the biggest software release of this year

I gave one of mine away and sold the other for $80 to someone I didn't like [which doesn't really narrow the field much]. But I really don't geddit - you can make any sound imaginable and all you want to do is emulate the worst sounding synth of all time. I remember the instructions in my BassStation manual for emulating it. It involved turning half the parameters down to zero and disabling most of the rest. Well, duh!

lol cypher!

-------------------------

I think theres something for everyone.. you may not understand why.. but its still there..

I really like the 303 sound.. I like to think of it(in a way) like the electric guitar.. it can sound thin, twangy, and generally boring. But you can get different amps.. different effects units.. as well as different playing techniques and it can become something much different.

Well, I don't know if you are looking for 303 lines or just an "acid" lead lines, but Kriminal makes incredible acid leads on his stuff. Top notch!

Any advice, Krim?

drez wrote:

Well, I don't know if you are looking for 303 lines or just an "acid" lead lines, but Kriminal makes incredible acid leads on his stuff. Top notch! Any advice, Krim?

Me Advice

Well, if your looking 303 basslines, buy a 303 emulator, there are loads, and they all do the job pretty well, the best of them being, in my opinion, the Monobass in Orion and the Muon Tau 2.

If its acid lines you want to create, you can do that with anything that produces a bass sound. Its all in the FX, not the instrument.

I can get those sounds from a SE synth i made, and i dont even know how to use SE


If you're still not happy, and you have a pile of money to burn, buy a 303. I can guarantee you will be dissapointed tho

BONES wrote:

PatchArena wrote: You all know how much I have craved an authentic 303 sound from my PC so for me this is the biggest software release of this year I gave one of mine away and sold the other for $80 to someone I didn't like [which doesn't really narrow the field much].

Anyone who says they gave away two TB-303s (worth well over a grand to the right person) for $80 is either a fool or they are lying....and no matter what I think of you I do not believe you are a fool

I own and love the BassStation, but why would anyone want to buy a BassStation if they want to emulate a TB-303 now? Surely it's just better to get the true emulation from audiorealism? Whether you like the sound or not there are a lot of people that do and use it every day that will be excited about this

Don't forget you can also check out Creakbox Bassline at http://www.bioroid.com with a very simple to use sequencer. It works exactly the same as a TB-303 sequencer but it is presented in a much easier form. Even Roland's VariOS-303 has a slider sequencer option like the Creakbox.

Martin
bioroid

Yeah, I've got TauPro, Tau 2 and Creakbox, so I guess I'm just a talentless arse

Quote:

Yeah, I've got TauPro, Tau 2 and Creakbox, so I guess I'm just a talentless arse

Its fun because i always thought this machine (and also sh101) are incredible, because whatever you type in (even random notes), it sounds great. Its "too easy".
It should be almost the same on tau2 and creakbox...
I always regretted not to have a "random" button on my real tb.